More than 100 friends and neighbors of Kevin and Kimberly Hilt showed up last Sunday for an afternoon scarecrow party celebrating Halloween. What followed was a series of fun, food, and games at the Brushy Meadows Drive home in Fuquay-Varina.

Bales of hay were laid out across the front lawn of the Hilt property, earmarked for adorning all types of scarecrows that were to be created by the guests, along with tables of food to brighten what has become an annual event since some 30 persons attended the first gathering five years ago.

Each year Kim Hilt sends invitations by email announcing the event. It's become a tradition for the family that includes a daughter, Sedona, who is 13 and an eighth grade student at West Lake Middle School, and a son, Nathan, 8, a third grader at Banks Elementary School. The popular event started five years ago with finger foods like cookies and cupcakes and has grown to hot dogs and cider and more.

The October Halloween get together has grown each year from the first with skate boarding, bobbing for apples to three legged races, tugs or war and sack races.

Judges are on hand to name the winning families who take part in the major gathering — making scarecrows during the party that are judged in a special contest during the afternoon. Making scarecrows, it should be noted, has become a popular event over the years.

Eight types of scarecrows were sought - covering the following appearances:

Most Creative, Most Halloweenish, Best Effort, Best Look-A-Like, Scariest, Cutest, Funniest, and Ugliest.

There are hundreds of scarecrow festivals in the world that are annual events. Folks go all out creating their unique scarecrows. It's been said that the earliest known written fact about scarecrows was in 1592. The definition of a scarecrow was that which frightens without doing physical harm, meaning literally, that which - Scare Only Crows, hence the name scarecrow.

Farmers, meanwhile, still use scarecrows in countries like India and some Arab nations where during the growing season scarecrows still stand in fields, and each fall many countries have scarecrow contests. It's said as long as birds are hungry, farmers will look for ways to Scare Crows! It's also been said for more than 3,000 years that farmers have been making scarecrows.

In Fuquay-Varina, on Brushy Meadows Drive, it seems it's more like five years that judges are on hand to name the winning families who take part in making scarecrows that are judged during a special party in a special contest during a special afternoon.